Automatic mechanism



J. M. WAMPLER. AUTOMATIC MEOEANISM FOR OPERATING THE SURVEYORSGRAPHODOMETER.

No. 20,908. Patented July 13, 1858.

p now-J @ir Aretha) J. M. YVAMPLER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAYD.

AUTOMATIC MECHANISM. FOR OPERATING SURVEYORS GRAPEODOMETEE.

To all (C/1022b it nut/y concern:

Be it known that l, J. lvlonrns of the city of Baltimore. in the titateo lilaryland, have invented a new and useful Machine or Instrument,which E denominate a Graphodometer, for Taking and Record ingAutomatically Courses, Distances, and Levels: and i do hereby declarethe following to be a correct description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which- Figure l, is alongitudinal, vertical, central section of the machine; Fig. 2, is a topview of the same; Fig. 3, is an elevation of the rear end of themachine; and Fig. i, a similar elevation of the front end of themachine.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination, in a suitablevehicle, of antomatic mechanism for recording courses, distances, andlevels, as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

In the drawings, the same part is indi cated by the same letter ofreference in all the figures.

A marks the frame of the machine; B, roll of paper on which the resultsare recorded; C, axle of last retarding wheel; D, box having twocompartments; E, E, rollers over which the record paper passes; F, F.rollers to keep the paper in place by pressure; G. guides for pencilbars; H, bar to which weight, TV, is swung; 1, connecting joint betweenH and t," K bent lever, con necting weight, W, with pencil bar Y; L,lever connecting rack bar, S, with pencil bar Z; M, cog wheel on innerend of left hind axle; N, N. spring friction rubbers: O, O, coggedretarding wheels, connecting the distance wheel, P, with thepaper-feeding apparatus; P, the right hind wheel: P, the left hindwheel, or distance wheel; 0,.king bolt of fore axle; R. cogged segmentattached to top of bolt Q; S, rack bar, worked by segment R; T, bracessupporting frame A; U, U, front frame work: V, front axle; lV, hangingweight or plumb; X, pencil for marking levels; X, pencil for markingcourses; Y, pencilbar for levels; Z,pencilbar for courses; a, bar overwhich the paper strip passes while the record is marked upon it; 7),slit through which the paper strip passes out of box D: c, 0, doors ofbox D; (Z, opening or slit into which the strip passes after the recordis marked upon it: c, c, journals of paper rollers E, E; f, the paperstrip as it leaves the roll 13; 5/, the paper strip as it falls into boxl after being marked: 1i.

central line of paper strip: Z brace to which lever la is pivoted: Z,brace to which lever,

' pivoted; m, m, axles of rear wheels;

i1, 11% a, a, are described by plumb il q, bolts to keep king bolt fromturning in axle V; 2: rod of plumb il To enable others to make and usemy invention, i. will proceed to describe more pa r ticularly itsconstruction and operation. 1 construct a light vehicle, with fourwheels, and ha ing a strong but light frame A, as shown. The fore wheelsare of any ordinary construction, and are less in diameter than the hindwheels, for convenience in turning. The top of the frame, A, ishorizontal, when the vehicle is on a level. the difference in heightbetween the fore and hind axles being made up by the front framing U,U", T, T. as seen in Figs. 1, and l. Through the fore axle, V, passes alarge king bolt, Q, which is prevented from turning in the axle by the.small transverse bolts 9', f], (l -:l-). lit-- tached rigidly to the topof bolt, is the cogged segment R, meshing into the teeth of rack ba S,which works transverselv across the frame, Jr. as seen in Fig. 2. Tothis bar. S, is pivoted lever, L. the other end of said lever beingpivoted to pencil bar, Z, which traverses the frame Jr. in guides G, andcarries. at its inner end, pencil X, for recording courses.

The hind wheels P, P, work in double bearings. as shown. and are fast totheir axles. Their circumference is the measuring unit of the distancestraversed by the machine. The left wheel. I is the distance, ormeasuring wheel. On the inner end of its axle, is a cog wheel 3. workingtrain of retarding wheels, O. O, O, O,

1. and 2.), which drive the paper rollers E, E, and give them a speedhaving a definite relation to that of the distance wheel P. Supposing,for example, the paper rollers to have a circumference of one foot, andthat it was desired to make the suiwev on the scale of 5 feet to a mile.the train of wheels 0, O, &c.. should be so arranged as that thedistance wheel l7 should revolve 1056 times, in order to effect onerevolution of the paper roller. The train would require to be alteredaccording to the scale on which it is desired to make the field notes.The paper rollers. E E, have pins or teeth projecting from their edgesand center line for .cators of the distances passed over.

the purpose of catching the edges and center of the strip of paper, f,g, and carrying it forward as they revolve. The holes thus pricked mayalso be made to serve as indi- The paper on which the facts are recordedis made into a large roll, B, and placed in box D, between a number ofsmall rollers, seen in Fig. l. Thence it passes out, through aperture orslit Z), and is drawn between paper roller, E, and pressure roller, F,the latter pressing it closely into contact with E. It then passes overbar (a, a, and on to roller E; then, between E and F, and down throughslit, (Z, into the large front compartment of box D. hen it isexhausted, a fresh roll is supplied; and, to give notice of the failureof the paper, I propose to arrange a signal bell in any convenient mode.As the paper strip passes over bar, a, at the definite and predeterminedrate, it is impressed by pencils, X, and X, with marks which indicatethe courses of the line traversed, and its differences of level.

The course on which the instrument starts must be determined by acompass observation. That being done, the deflections, either to rightor left, from that course, are marked by pencil X, at end of pencil barZ, which is controlled by lever L, attached to rack bar S. If thedeflection is to the right, rack bar S, will be moved to the left bycogged segment R; the forward end of L, will also be moved to the left,and its after end to the right, carrying with it bar Z, and its pencilX. The converse result will be attained by the movement of the vehicleto the left. The line described by the pencil X, when the vehicle isgoing straight forward, is the zero line of courses. The marks made bypencil X, thus give data for an accurate plat of a horizontal projectionof the road or line traversed by the machine, recording with accuracythe various angles in such road or line. The record made by pencil Xgives data for an accurate profile, or vert1cal pro ect1on of the lineor road. This is effected by means of the weight W, and its connections.When the vehicle is on a level surface, the weight W hangs at rightangles to the horizontal frame A, and the pencil X, is on the zero lineof levels. lVhen the vehicle comes on a rise, the weight, XV, assumes tothe frame A the same relative angle, that the slope of the rise does toa vertical line; and the change of position in the weight imparts motionto level K, pencil-bar Y, and pencil X, which last is drawn to the leftof the Zero line, and continues in one position until there is a changein the angle of the rise. hen the vehicle is descending, the pencil X,will be moved to the right of the zero line. It thus keeps an accuraterecord of the changes of level in the line, their angles and theduration of such changes, giving the materials for a perfect profile.Undue vibration in the weight W is prevented by the springfriction-rubbers N, pressing slightly against the sides of the guideplates between which the weight vibrates.

The mode of recording herein described may be applied to an instrumentfor taking levels alone or courses alone, and I have so contemplated itsapplication.

It is obvious also that an instrument with three wheels would, in manycases, answer the purpose as well as one with four.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

The combination with a moving strip of paper, or other proper material,arranged on any suitable vehicle, of automatic mechanism for taking andrecording distances and courses, or distances and levels, or distances,courses and levels, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown.

The above specification signed and witnessed this 26th day of March1858.

J. M. VAMPLER.

Witnesses GEO. E. CHENowE'rH, lVM. MARTENET.

